Attendance

Attendance is important to the learning process, and your student is expected to be in all assigned classes each week. Excessive absences may result in your student’s inability to participate in upcoming performances and could inhibit your student’s advancement to the next class level.

Both the teacher and the front office record attendance in every class. Any student arriving more than 15 minutes late may be asked to observe class, and may not be permitted to participate for their safety (they probably missed crucial warm-up and stretching).

Students are permitted three (3) absences per semester, per class.

To ensure that students are held accountable the following actions will be taken when they are noted absent:

After 2 consecutive absences, a notice will be sent to families if the office has not received prior notification of the absences to alert the student and parents.

After the 3 permitted absences(per semester, per class), a student’s placement will be re-evaluated for the following semester(s).

After 4 absences(per semester, per class), a student will not be able to participate in auditions for the upcoming year (Christmas Dreams & TMDC).

Please notify the studio as soon as possible if you are going to miss a class. You can either send us an email at info@institutefordance.org or call the office at (757) 229-1717. There are no make-up classes and you will be held responsible for payment, even if your child does not attend class.

EXTENDED ILLNESS/INJURY

Exceptions may be made for students with an extended illness or injury. In this case, we ask that you please provide the front office with a signed and dated physician’s note. For students who have non-contagious illnesses or injuries that require them to sit, attendance will be counted for observing class.

SENIOR CONTRACTS

Seniors will be required to sign a separate senior contract with regards to personal responsibility, commitment, communication and attendance. The same number of absences is permitted but with the understanding that consequences for excessive absences are different given that they will not be returning the next semester/year.

ADD/DROP

If your student has decided to withdraw from or enroll in a [different] class, please notify the office so that you can receive an add/drop form. We will not accept withdrawals or changes to your child’s enrollment via phone or email. If you are moving to a different class, teacher sign-off is required on your form.

We require a 30-day notice to drop a class. If notice is given less than 30 days out, you will still be charged for the month. Please note, you will continue to be charged for all classes if the proper forms are not completed; non-attendance does NOT constitute a withdrawal notice or adequate reason for not paying tuition.

INCLEMENT WEATHER/ HOLIDAY CLOSINGS

We follow the Williamsburg/James City County School District closings for the following holidays: Thanksgiving, Winter Break, Spring Break, and Memorial Day Monday. Please see the studio calendar at the back of this document for all other scheduled closings.

With regards to inclement weather, we will generally follow the WJCC School District but, ultimately, closings will be at the discretion of the studio director and board of directors. We will do our best to notify all families of unplanned closings via email, text, and social media. Refunds will not be issued for missed classes.